The 38th Annual Hunger Games
by The-Tasami-Ship
Summary: Otillie Duhbrye, the District Four female has a lot to accomplish if she wants to win the 38th Annual Hunger Games, and return home to her family. But her knife throwing, swimming, and tree climbing won't keep her alive forever, at least not in the Arena.


5...  
4...  
3...  
2...  
1.

I flew off of the starting plate, straight towards the knife that had caught my eye at '30'. My desire to have it in my hand surged down my arm as I watched the girl from District one pass me. The knife was glinting in the sun, I could feel the determination etched onto my face. Finally, my fingers locked around the handle. The others had gone for the contents deeper into the cornucopia. The girl from District 1, and the boy from two already reached the center and were picking through frightening weapons. The girl from seven didn't even go for one, she caught the poor boy from eight and was just about to crack his neck. I watched in horror as her eyes darted onto me. Fear made my head spin, and I started to run. On my way, I spotted a little black backpack. I flung it over my shoulder, and used the last of my adrenaline and bolted into the forest. When I found a tree hidden enough from the bloodbath, I climbed it with ease, and reached the top. I took a bit of time to let myself recover from the running. After my head stopped spinning, I peaked over the top of the trees to see the careers, the girl from seven, and both from three, picking through the supplies back at the cornucopia. My head was clear enough to remember the names of the careers, and maybe even the other tributes. The girl from one, that's Delphia. The boy from two is Alto, and seven was Valeria. The chalky looking boy from three, his name is Magnus, and the tall skinny girl from the same district was Laurel. Valeria kicked over a short, young girl who looked like she was about fourteen. The girl didn't seem to have any wounds, her neck must have been broken too. After observing carefully, several of the people lying on the ground didn't have any wounds. Note: Watch out for Valeria. I shivered at the thought of Valeria's cold hands on my head. I ducked back under the branches, and wedged myself into a secure part of the tree. I opened the black backpack, and examined the contents. I pulled out some rope, and box of matches, a package of two funny looking white pills, and at the bottom of the pack, there laid a knife, the blade was about the height of my hand, and it could easily be hidden. That's a good start. I was lucky to find two knives. As for the pills, their use is a mystery, so it's probably not a good idea to test them on myself. _Bang_. The cannon sounded, indicating a death, and I almost fell out of the tree. _Bang. _One._ Bang. _Two._ Bang. _Three._ Bang. _Four._ Bang. _Five._ Bang. _Six._ Bang. _Seven._ Bang. _Eight_.Bang. _Nine. Nine dead on the first day. Fifteen left in the arena.

Day One

I awoke to the sound of crunching leaves below me. It was still a bit dark, I would say it was about six in the morning in the arena. There was a figure below me, stepping through the forest. As far as I could tell, it was a girl, the way she positioned herself, and she was unarmed. _Unarmed. _It must be Valeria. She seemed to be tracking someone, she was quiet, trying to keep under. As silently as I could, I untied the ropes that bound me to the tree, safely packed them away, and peeked over the branches of the tree. I could see a fire blazing just behind the cornucopia. Alto was keeping watch, with Delphia sleeping on his shoulder. The district three tributes were sleeping opposite of the fire. Alto seemed to be looking out for someone. A tribute could have possibly caught their eye, and Valeria came to seek him or her out. I slowly ducked back into the forest, and tried to find Valeria again. She hasn't moved much, but the idea of her finding me isn't too far fetched. I hear a rustle in the leaves, and she obviously hears it too, because both of our heads turn left, but I see him, she doesn't. He's in a tree, almost the same height as mine, the tribute from District Four, the boy who came here with me. Valeria doesn't think people from District Four can climb trees, all she expects is a great swimmer. Jack, his name is Jack, and he's throwing me a smile that makes me want to laugh. I smile back, but quickly remember the sight of Valeria cracking the neck of the boy in District 8. I stop smiling and look down. _Weapons?_ I mouth to Jack. He shakes his head. I guess he didn't go for the cornucopia. I try to open my backpack as quietly as I can, and I pull out my first knife. Jack points to Valeria, and imitates a throat slitting action. I point to the direction of the Cornucopia, and try motioning "_Her alliance is over there and they're watching and they will kill me if they see me." _But I don't think he got that. She wasn't going to go away anytime soon, and she poses as a major threat. I give Jack a defeated look, pull my second knife out of my backpack, and store each knife on my person, then I start to climb down the tree.  
She started to head back to the edge of the forest, but I couldn't let her do that. I started to follow her, as quiet as I could. _Crack. _My foot had landed on a twig. Valeria's head turned, and spotted me, she came running at me. In panic, I started to climb a tree, which was pretty stupid. She grabbed my ankle (At least it wasn't my neck) and tried pulling me off the tree. I had a hard time staying on, but my hands grabbed hold of a branch, so I was in a better spot than I could have been. Then I started to fight back. My foot made contact with her face, I think her nose, but all I know is that I heard a crack, and she let go. I jumped down, and blood was streaming down her face. Her nose was letting out an alarmingly dark shade of red, shiny liquid. The blood made my head spin, but I had to focus if I was going to survive. She came at me but I was quicker, I pulled out the small knife and planted it in her side. She screamed, and started to take it out when I ran at her with the larger knife. I stuck it into the base of her neck, then felt a sharp pain in my arm, and had to back away. Valeria tried her best to stab my arm, but she was too weak to make a huge impression. She fell to her knees, now coughing up blood. I gave her a blow to the head with the knife. There was a cannon, and some yelling. Valeria was dead, and the careers were heading towards the woods. I grabbed my knives out of her, and bolted up a tree. It was a bit hard to do, because of my injured arm. Jack sat up in his tree, hand on his chin, just watching. Why didn't he help? I could feel myself throw him a nasty face,, and I would have yelled at him if the careers weren't there. They reached Valeria's body. "C'mon." Alto said curtly. He walked with angst in his steps, back to his camp. Jack gracefully made his way down the tree, and back up to mine. "Close call there, eh?" I just glared at him. "You probably would have been better off without my help anyway."  
"Is that so?"  
"Yes."  
"Well, then I guess you should be on your way then?"  
"Nope."  
"No?"  
"Yes. No."  
"What, are you going to kill me or something?"  
"No." My eyes narrowed, and I started to pack away the rest of my things.  
"Okay, then I guess we'll have to move inwards, the careers are sure to come back here tomorrow." Jack threw me a crooked smile, and started down the tree.

It was about three in the morning in the arena. I was up keeping watch. Jack was strapped onto the branches next to me, fast asleep. It was a chilly night, the gamemakers seemed keen on making it tough to survive. For some at least. Back in District Four, almost every night was like this, the only difference was that you could hear the ocean through your doors. It put me to sleep each night.


End file.
